SloppyCalculator/SinFoS huggingface dataset:
Sinhala figure of speech: ඉඟුරු දීලා මිරිස් ගත්තා වගේ
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][උපමා]
Literal translation: Exchanging ginger for chilli
Meaning: Swapping one bad thing for something worse
Sinhala figure of speech: රැවුලයි කැඳයි දෙකම බේරගන්න බෑ
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][නිශේධ]
Literal translation: Can’t drink porridge without wetting the moustache
Meaning: You can’t have it both ways
Sinhala figure of speech: වැරදි ගහට කෙටුවේ
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Pecked the wrong tree
Meaning: Barking up the wrong tree
Sinhala figure of speech: හිසරදේට කොට්ටේ මාරුකලා වගෙයි
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][උපමා]
Literal translation: Changing pillows for a headache
Meaning: Treating symptoms, not the cause
Sinhala figure of speech: ගඟට කැපූ ඉනි වගේ
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][උපමා]
Literal translation: Fence posts thrown into the river
Meaning: Work done in vain
Sinhala figure of speech: ගිය ලූලා මහා එකා ලු
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][වාර්තා]
Literal translation: The eel that escaped is the biggest
Meaning: “The one that got away” was the best
Sinhala figure of speech: ගහට පොත්ත වගෙයි
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][උපමා]
Literal translation: Bark to the tree
Meaning: Two people are inseparable
Sinhala figure of speech: මිටි තැනින් වතුර බහිනවා
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
Literal translation: Water finds the lowest point
Meaning: The weak suffer the consequences
Sinhala figure of speech: අනුන්ගෙ මගුල්දාට ආදරය පෙන්නනවා වගෙයි
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][උපමා]
Literal translation: Showing hospitality at another’s wedding
Meaning: Taking credit with someone else’s resources
Sinhala figure of speech: කැටුගාලේ පිපුනු මල වගෙයි
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][උපමා]
Literal translation: Flower blooming in brambles
Meaning: A good person among the wicked
Sinhala figure of speech: අඟේ ඉදන් කණ කනවාලු
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][වාර්තා]
Literal translation: Eating the ear while sitting on the horn
Meaning: Harm inflicted by a close associate
Sinhala figure of speech: මිටේ උන් කුරුල්ලා ඇරලා ගහේ එක අල්ලන්න ගියා වගෙයි
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][උපමා]
Literal translation: Let the bird in hand go to catch the one on the tree
Meaning: “Bird in the hand vs. two in the bush”
Sinhala figure of speech: ඔරුව පෙරළුණ පිට හොඳයි කිව්වා වගේ
Type: [උපදේශ][ප්‍රපංච][උපමා]
Literal translation: Saying the underside is better after boat capsizes
Meaning: Forced optimism in disaster
Sinhala figure of speech: අඟෙන් ඇටයක් ගන්නවා වගෙයි
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][උපමා]
Literal translation: Asking for a bone from one’s body
Meaning: Requesting the impossible
Sinhala figure of speech: අල්ලපු අත්තත් නෑ, පය ගහපු අත්තත් නෑ
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][නිශේධ]
Literal translation: Lost both the branch you held and the one you stood on
Meaning: Over-reaching and losing everything
Context: This was said of a man who, selling off his land his sole property and gave the money as dowry to his daughter. Shortly after this money had all been squandered, the son-in-law died. The son-in-law, was the “branch he had caught hold of” and his lost land “that on which his feet had rested.”
Sinhala figure of speech: ආඬි හත්දෙනාගේ කැඳ හැලිය වගෙයි
Type: [විශ්වාස][කතා][උපමා]
Literal translation: Porridge pot of seven beggars
Meaning: Everyone relies on others; nothing gets done
Sinhala figure of speech: බළලුන් ලවා කොස් ඇට බෑව්වා වගෙයි
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][උපමා]
Literal translation: Got cats to pull roasted jak seeds from the fire
Meaning: Using others for dirty work
Sinhala figure of speech: පිරුණු කළේ දිය නොසෙලේ
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
Literal translation: A full pot makes no sound
Meaning: The truly knowledgeable speak little
Sinhala figure of speech: උගුරට හොරා බෙහෙත් ගන්න බෑ
Type: [විශ්වාස][කතා][නිශේධ]
Literal translation: Can’t swallow medicine without throat knowing
Meaning: You can’t fool yourself
Sinhala figure of speech: උඩ පැන්නොත් බිම වැටේලා
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
Literal translation: What goes up must come down
Meaning: Inevitable reversal
Sinhala figure of speech: උනහපුළුවගෙ පැටියා ඌට මැණිකක්
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
Literal translation: To the loris, her baby is a gem
Meaning: Value is in the eye of the beholder
Sinhala figure of speech: අත්තින් අත්තට පනින කුරුල්ලා තෙමී නසී
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
Literal translation: Bird hopping branches to dodge rain dies
Meaning: Constant side-switching ruins you
Sinhala figure of speech: අන්ධයාට මොන පහන් එළියද
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රශ්න]
Literal translation: Of what use is a lamp to a blind man?
Meaning: Giving what cannot be used
Sinhala figure of speech: හදිස්සියට කොරොස් කටෙත් අතලන්ට බැරි
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
Literal translation: In haste you can’t put your hand in a crock pot
Meaning: Haste makes waste
Sinhala figure of speech: කණ කොකාගෙ සුද පෙනෙන්නේ ඉගිලුනාම
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
Literal translation: Crane’s whiteness seen only when it flies
Meaning: We see value only after it’s gone
Sinhala figure of speech: ගිනිපෙනෙල්ලෙන් බැටකාපු මිනිහා කණාමැදිරිටත් බයයි
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
Literal translation: Man burnt by fire-brand fears a firefly
Meaning: Trauma over-generalisation
Sinhala figure of speech: ගිය හකුරට නාඩන්නේ, තියෙන හකුර රැකගන්නේ
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
Literal translation: Save the jaggery that’s left, not mourn the lost
Meaning: Move on after loss
Sinhala figure of speech: රෑ වැටුනු වලේ දවල් වැටෙන්නේ නැ
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
Literal translation: Don’t fall into the same pit in daylight
Meaning: Learn from past mistakes
Sinhala figure of speech: ඵල ඇති ගහට සෑම සතෙක්ම එයි
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
Literal translation: Every creature comes to the fruitful tree
Meaning: Success attracts followers & opportunists
Sinhala figure of speech: තැළෙන යකඩේ දැක හිමි පැන පැන තළනවා
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
Literal translation: Smith hammers eagerly on malleable iron
Meaning: The more you yield, the more you’re used
Sinhala figure of speech: උපාය දන්නෝ අපායේ නොවැටෙති
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
Literal translation: Those who know strategy don’t fall into hell
Meaning: Know-how keeps you out of trouble
Sinhala figure of speech: සල්ලි දෙයියන්ගෙ මල්ලිලු
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][වාර්තා]
Literal translation: Money is the gods’ younger brother
Meaning: Money can achieve almost anything
Sinhala figure of speech: සාත්තුව සින්න වුණා වගේ
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][උපමා]
Literal translation: Like gravy repeatedly diluted
Meaning: Kindness repaid with endless demands
Sinhala figure of speech: සාස්තරේ විතරක් මදි, සූස්තරෙත් ඕන
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
Literal translation: Theory alone isn’t enough; need craft too
Meaning: Practice must follow knowledge
Sinhala figure of speech: සිත ඇත්නම් පත කුඩාද?
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රශ්න]
Literal translation: If the will exists, is the leaf too small?
Meaning: Where there’s a will, there’s a way
Sinhala figure of speech: සුප් එකට කෝකි වැඩිවුණා වගේ
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][උපමා]
Literal translation: Too many chickens in the soup
Meaning: Too many cooks spoil the broth
Sinhala figure of speech: සෙක්කුවේ බැන්ද හරකා වගේ
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][උපමා]
Literal translation: Like an ox tied to an oil-mill
Meaning: Endless grind in the same rut
Sinhala figure of speech: ජාඩියට මූඩිය වගෙයි
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][උපමා]
Literal translation: Lid to the pot
Meaning: A perfect fit / made for each other
Sinhala figure of speech: ජන්මෙට වඩා පුරුද්ද ලොකුයි
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
Literal translation: Habit is bigger than birth
Meaning: Habit overpowers innate nature
Sinhala figure of speech: ජරමර අස්සේ බර කරත්ත
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
Literal translation: Heavy cart amid rattling
Meaning: Extra burdens on top of troubles
Sinhala figure of speech: ගොරවන තරමට වහින්නේ නැතිලු
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][වාර්තා]
Literal translation: Thunder but little rain
Meaning: Much talk, little action
Sinhala figure of speech: ගොළුව සින්දු කීව වගේ
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][උපමා]
Literal translation: Singing songs to a buffalo
Meaning: Talking to someone who can’t grasp it
Sinhala figure of speech: ගොම රිටි යට යනවා, තිරුවාන මතු වෙනවා
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
Literal translation: Dung under straw surfaces later
Meaning: Hidden wrongs will emerge
Sinhala figure of speech: ලිප් බොක්කේ ලැග්ග බළලා වගේ
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][උපමා]
Literal translation: Cat dipped in a soot pot
Meaning: Person looking shabby & lazy
Sinhala figure of speech: ලුණු නැති හොද්ද වගේ
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][උපමා]
Literal translation: Curry without salt
Meaning: Bland, lifeless situation
Sinhala figure of speech: ලූලා නැති වලට කනයා පණ්ඩිතයානායක
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
Literal translation: Where there’s no eel, tortoise is chief
Meaning: Mediocre leads when talent’s absent
Sinhala figure of speech: මීයා යකඩ කෑවා වගේ
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][උපමා]
Literal translation: Mouse eating iron
Meaning: Something impossible
Sinhala figure of speech: මුහුදට පොල් මට්ටයක් දැම්මා වගේ
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][උපමා]
Literal translation: Tossing a coconut husk into the sea
Meaning: A drop in the ocean
Sinhala figure of speech: මුහුණ එක්ක තරහා වෙලා නහය කපා ගත්තා වගේ
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][උපමා]
Literal translation: Cutting your nose to spite the face
Meaning: Self-destructive revenge
Sinhala figure of speech: නොදන්න දෙමළෙට ගිහින් වරිගේ නහ ගත්තා වගේ
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][උපමා]
Literal translation: Pulling an unknown Tamil’s moustache
Meaning: Acting in ignorance and courting trouble
Sinhala figure of speech: අයනු ආයනු
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: The letters A and Aa
English equivalent: A.B.C
Meaning: Something is very easy, simple, or requires little effort
Sinhala figure of speech: අත් හිටලා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Hands having stopped
English equivalent: In abeyance
Meaning: a state of not happening or being used at present
Sinhala figure of speech: වෙන කිසිත් නැතත්
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Even if (there is) nothing else
English equivalent: Above all
Meaning: more so than anything else
Sinhala figure of speech: සඟවන්න්ට දෙයක් නැති
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Nothing to hide
English equivalent: Above-board
Meaning: legitimate, honest, and open.
Sinhala figure of speech: ආක්‍රෝශ පරිසව - වචන
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Abusive, harsh words
English equivalent: Terms of abuse
Meaning: an unkind or unpleasant name to call someone
Sinhala figure of speech: එක හිතින්
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: From one mind
English equivalent: With one accord
Meaning: in a united way
Sinhala figure of speech: එක අඩින්
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: One voice
English equivalent: With one accord
Meaning: in a united way
Sinhala figure of speech: වාඩුව ගැනීමක්
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: A taking of revenge
English equivalent: An account to settle
Meaning: to harm someone because they have harmed you in the past
Sinhala figure of speech: ගැම්මකට නැති
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Not for a momentum/gumption
English equivalent: Of no account
Meaning: used to describe a person of little use or importance
Sinhala figure of speech: වැඩක් නැති
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: No work
English equivalent: Of no account
Meaning: used to describe a person of little use or importance
Sinhala figure of speech: කාලක්‍රියා කළ
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Did the time-action
English equivalent: Gone to his account
Meaning: someone has died
Sinhala figure of speech: බඩුත් එක්ක
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: With the goods also
English equivalent: In the act
Meaning: in the process of
Sinhala figure of speech: උපොපන් ජාති අහලවත් නැති
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Not heard of the caste they were born in
English equivalent: Not to know from Adam
Meaning: to have never met someone and not know anything about them
Sinhala figure of speech: ඒ පිටට
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: On top of that
English equivalent: In addition to
Meaning: as well
Sinhala figure of speech: මදිවට
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: That, that is enough
English equivalent: In addition to
Meaning: as well
Sinhala figure of speech: වැඩි වාසිය තියෙනවා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: The greater advantage exists
English equivalent: Have the advantage of
Meaning: to be in a superior or advantageous position
Sinhala figure of speech: කල් වයස් ගිය කාලේ 
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Time age gone time
English equivalent: At an advanced age
Meaning: in old age
Sinhala figure of speech: වයසෙන් අඩු
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Less from age
English equivalent: Underage
Meaning: too young to engage legally in a particular activity
Sinhala figure of speech: පුල පුලා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Widening and widening
English equivalent: AlI agog
Meaning: very eager, excited, or full of expectation
Sinhala figure of speech: කටින් කට යන
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Going from mouth to mouth
English equivalent: In the air
Meaning: About to happen
Sinhala figure of speech: ඇහැට නොපෙනී
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Not appearing to the eye
English equivalent: Into thin air
Meaning: used to refer to someone or something disappearing suddenly and completely
Sinhala figure of speech: අතුරුදන්වී
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Having disappeared
English equivalent: Into thin air
Meaning: used to refer to someone or something disappearing suddenly and completely
Sinhala figure of speech: පුප්පනවා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Puffing up
English equivalent:  Give oneself airs 
Meaning: act pretentiously or snobbishly.
Sinhala figure of speech: බොරුවට භය ගැන්වීම
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Causing fear for a lie
English equivalent: False alarm 
Meaning: a warning given about something that fails to happen.
Sinhala figure of speech: එක සීරුවෙන්
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: In one adjustment
English equivalent: On the alert
Meaning: to be watchful and fully prepared for something, especially danger or an unexpected even
Sinhala figure of speech: පණ පිටින් 
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: With life
English equivalent: Alive and kicking
Meaning: prevalent and very active
Sinhala figure of speech: තවමත් පණ කඳ තියෙනවා
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
Literal translation: The life-trunk still exists
English equivalent: Alive and kicking
Meaning: prevalent and very active
Sinhala figure of speech: හිටිය ගමන්ම
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: The very moment stayed
English equivalent: All at once, or all of a sudden
Meaning: suddenly
Sinhala figure of speech: හිටපු හැටියම
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: The very way stayed
English equivalent: All at once, or all of a sudden
Meaning: suddenly
Sinhala figure of speech: සියලු යස ඉසුරක්
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: All fame and wealth
English equivalent: All the best
Meaning: wish a person well on ending a letter or parting
Sinhala figure of speech: හතර ගාතෙන්
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: From four limbs
English equivalent: On all fours
Meaning: with your hands and knees on the ground
Sinhala figure of speech: සියල්ලෙන් සියල්ල
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: All from all
English equivalent: All in all
Meaning: on the whole
Sinhala figure of speech: කොයිකත් එකයි
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Whichever is one
English equivalent: All one
Meaning: all the same
Sinhala figure of speech: ඔක්කම හමාරයි
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: All is finished
English equivalent: It's all up
Meaning: something is finished
Sinhala figure of speech: ඒ නමුත්
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: But that
English equivalent: For all that
Meaning: in spite of something
Sinhala figure of speech: ඒ කෙසේ වෙතත් 
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: However that be
English equivalent: For all that
Meaning: in spite of something
Sinhala figure of speech: ඇහැ වාගේ 
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][උපමා]
Literal translation: Like the eye
English equivalent: Apple of one's eye
Meaning: a person of whom one is extremely fond and proud
Sinhala figure of speech: සාරී පොටේ එල්ලිලා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Hanging on the saree fall
English equivalent: Tied to one's mother's apron-strings
Meaning: strongly influenced and controlled by that person
Sinhala figure of speech: අත දරුවා 
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Hand child
English equivalent: A baby in arms
Meaning: a very young baby
Sinhala figure of speech: තොත්ත බබා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Toddler baby
English equivalent: A baby in arms
Meaning: a very young baby
Sinhala figure of speech: දෑත විදහා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Both hands spread open
English equivalent: With open arms
Meaning: in a very friendly way
Sinhala figure of speech: සන්නාහ සන්නද්ධ
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Armored in armor
English equivalent: Under arms
Meaning: provided with weapons and willing to fight
Sinhala figure of speech: නගින කලාව
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: The rising art
English equivalent: Star in the ascendant
Meaning: someone or something is becoming increasingly powerful, influential, or popular
Sinhala figure of speech: සිකුරටම දන ගන්නවා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Knowing for very sure
English equivalent: Make assurance doubly sure
Meaning: to take extra steps to confirm something and guarantee that it happens or is true, leaving no room for doubt
Sinhala figure of speech: එකට එක කියනවා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Saying one to one
English equivalent: Answer back
Meaning: to speak rudely when answering someone in authority
Sinhala figure of speech: පැල්පදියම් වෙනවා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Becoming hut-foundation
English equivalent: Come to anchor
Meaning: to stop or come to a halt
Sinhala figure of speech: මහෙශාක්‍ය භාවයක්
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: A nature of great power
English equivalent: Strike an attitude
Meaning: to speak or act in a particular way to try and make other people believe particular things about you
Sinhala figure of speech: තමුන්ගේ මල්ල පුරවා ගැනීම
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Filling one's own bag
English equivalent: Axe to grind
Meaning: to have a strong personal opinion about something that you want people to accept and that is the reason why you do something
Sinhala figure of speech: අයින් වෙනවා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Becoming to the side
English equivalent: Back out
Meaning: to decide not to do something that you had said you would do
Sinhala figure of speech: පස්සා දොර
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Back door
English equivalent: Back door
Meaning: used to refer to an indirect way of achieving something, especially so that people do not know about it and so cannot object to it
Sinhala figure of speech: නැති තැන
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: The absent place
English equivalent: Behind one's back
Meaning: without one's knowledge; secretly or deceitfully
Sinhala figure of speech: යන්ට ඇරලා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Opened to go
English equivalent: Behind one's back:
Meaning: without one's knowledge; secretly or deceitfully
Sinhala figure of speech: පස්ස ගහනවා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Hitting the buttocks/back
English equivalent: Hang back
Meaning: o show unwillingness to advance or come forward
Sinhala figure of speech: කේන්ති යස්සනවා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Causing anger
English equivalent: Put one's back up
Meaning: to annoy someone
Sinhala figure of speech: අහක බලා සිටින කල
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: The time when looking aside
English equivalent: When one's back is turned
Meaning: someone is not present or not paying attention
Sinhala figure of speech: ළඟ නැති තැන
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Place not near
English equivalent: When one's back is turned
Meaning: someone is not present or not paying attention
Sinhala figure of speech: ගෝස්තරේ හොයා දෙනවා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Finding the grazing spot
English equivalent: Bring home the bacon
Meaning: to earn money for a family to live on
Sinhala figure of speech: ඇඟ බේරා ගන්නවා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Saving the body
English equivalent: Save one's bacon
Meaning: to help someone avoid getting into trouble
Sinhala figure of speech: ගන්ට දෙයක් නැති
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Nothing to take
English equivalent: A bad egg
Meaning: a person who is bad, dishonest, or unreliable; a good-for-nothing
Sinhala figure of speech: ගතයුත්තකට නැති
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Not for a thing worth taking
English equivalent: A bad egg
Meaning: a person who is bad, dishonest, or unreliable; a good-for-nothing
Sinhala figure of speech: අනිත් ජාතියේ ලැබෙන ණය
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Debts received of the other type
English equivalent: Bad debts
Meaning: a debt, or debt, that is not likely to be paid:
Sinhala figure of speech: වාසි අවාසි බලනවා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Looking at profit and loss
English equivalent: Strike a balance
Meaning: to determine the exact difference, if any, between the two sides of an account or set of accounts
Sinhala figure of speech: හා හා පුරා පටන් ගන්නවා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Starting with "Ha Ha"
English equivalent: Open the ball
Meaning: To begin operations; to set things in motion
Sinhala figure of speech: පොට වරදවා ගන්නවා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Getting the strand/thread wrong
English equivalent: Bark up the wrong tree
Meaning: trying to do something in a way that will not work
Sinhala figure of speech: හපනවාට වැඩිය බුරනවා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Barking more than biting
English equivalent: His bark is worse than his bite
Meaning: they are not as unpleasant or frightening as they seem
Sinhala figure of speech: ගජ සණ්ඩුවක්
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: An elephant fight
English equivalent: A battle royal
Meaning: a fiercely contested fight or dispute.
Sinhala figure of speech: යමර පොරයක්
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: A Yama (Death God) fight
English equivalent: A battle royal
Meaning: a fiercely contested fight or dispute.
Sinhala figure of speech: මැදි වෙලා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Having become middle
English equivalent: At bay
Meaning: Cornered, in distress
Sinhala figure of speech: හඳට බුරනවා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Barking at the moon
English equivalent: Bay the moon
Meaning: To make appeals in vain
Sinhala figure of speech: කමක් නැ
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Just to say "it doesn't matter"
English equivalent: Be it so
Meaning: used to say that it is necessary to accept the situation as it exists
Sinhala figure of speech: වන්නාටය
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: It is for the sake of being
English equivalent: Be it so
Meaning: used to say that it is necessary to accept the situation as it exists
Sinhala figure of speech: හොඳයි
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Good
English equivalent: Be it so
Meaning: used to say that it is necessary to accept the situation as it exists
Sinhala figure of speech: කම්මුතු වෙනවා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Becoming finished
English equivalent: Be no more
Meaning:         Pass away
Sinhala figure of speech: නාම ශේෂෝප ගත වෙනවා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Remaining only as a name
English equivalent: Be no more
Meaning: Cease to exist
Sinhala figure of speech: කථා ශේෂ වෙනවා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Story remaining
English equivalent: Be no more
Meaning: Cease to exist
Sinhala figure of speech: හාරා බැලිය හැකි
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Can dig and look
English equivalent: Bear investigation
Meaning: requires scrutiny or attention
Sinhala figure of speech: හිතේ කහටක් දරනවා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Bearing a stain in the mind
English equivalent: Bear malice
Meaning: to feel ill will
Sinhala figure of speech: වෛරයක් බැඳගන්නවා.
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Tying a hatred
English equivalent: Bear a grudge
Meaning: maintain a feeling of ill will or resentment toward someone.
Sinhala figure of speech: යකුන් නටාපු පිට්ටනියක් වාගේ
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][උපමා]
Literal translation: Like a ground where devils danced
English equivalent: Like a bear-garden
Meaning: a place or scene of tumult and disorder
Sinhala figure of speech: කිං හන්ති කං හන්ති දොඩනවා
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
Literal translation: Babbling "Kin hanthi"
English equivalent: Beat about the bush
Meaning: to avoid the point at issue
Sinhala figure of speech: හෙමබත් වෙනවා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Becoming "Hemabath"
English equivalent: Be dead beat
Meaning: an idle, feckless, or disreputable person.
Sinhala figure of speech: මල් යහන
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Flower bed
English equivalent: Bed of roses 
Meaning: a situation of comfort or ease
Sinhala figure of speech: සුඛ ශය්‍යාව
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Comfort sleep/bed
English equivalent: Bed of roses
Meaning: a situation of comfort or ease
Sinhala figure of speech: වර්ණනාතික්‍රාන්ත වෙනවා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Exceeding description
English equivalent: Beggar description
Meaning: impossible to describe it.
Sinhala figure of speech: හිඟන්න්නන්ට මොන උණු බත් ද?
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රශ්න]
Literal translation: What hot rice for beggars?
English equivalent: Beggars cannot be choosers
Meaning: people with no other options must be content with what is offered.
Sinhala figure of speech: යටි කූට්ටුවෙන්
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: From the under-stick
English equivalent: Behind the scenes
Meaning: done secretly rather than publicly
Sinhala figure of speech: යල් පැනපු
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Season-jumped
English equivalent: Behind the times
Meaning: not aware of or using the latest ideas or techniques
Sinhala figure of speech: නිහීන ක්‍රියාවක් කරනවා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Doing a mean act
English equivalent: Hit below the belt
Meaning: very insulting and unfair
Sinhala figure of speech: යටි බඩට ගහනවා.
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Hitting the lower belly
English equivalent: Hit below the belt
Meaning: very insulting and unfair
Sinhala figure of speech: සැකයේ වාසිය දෙනවා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Giving the profit of the doubt
English equivalent: Give the benetit of the doubt
Meaning: to believe something good about someone, rather than something bad, when you have the possibility of doing either
Sinhala figure of speech: හිත හදාගන
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Having made the mind
English equivalent: Bent upon
Meaning: fully committed to achieving a goal
Sinhala figure of speech: ඇතිවෙන කල්
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Until becoming enough
English equivalent: To the top of one's bent
Meaning: to (or at) the limit of one's capacity or ability
Sinhala figure of speech: බඩ පුරා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Stomach full
English equivalent: To the top of one's bent
Meaning: to (or at) the limit of one's capacity or ability
Sinhala figure of speech: කොහෙද යන්නෙ මල්ලෙ පොල්
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Stomach full
English equivalent: Beside the mark or point
Meaning: it is not relevant to the subject that you are discussing
Sinhala figure of speech: අන්දුන් කුන්දුන් වෙලා 
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: "Where are you going?" "Coconuts in bag"
English equivalent: Beside oneself
Meaning: overwhelmed
Sinhala figure of speech: ගෙදර එක්කෙනා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Having become confused
English equivalent: Better half
Meaning: one's spouse
Sinhala figure of speech: මඟ රැඳුණ අද තෝ නසි ගෙට ගිය අඹුව නසී 
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
Literal translation: The one at home
English equivalent: Between Scylla and Charybdis
Meaning: in a predicament in which avoidance of either of two dangers means exposure to the other
Sinhala figure of speech: ලකුණු තිබෙනවා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Stay on road-you die; Go home-wife dies
English equivalent: Bid fair to
Meaning: to seem probable
Sinhala figure of speech: ලොකු ලොක්කෙක්
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: A big big-person
English equivalent: A big-wig
Meaning:  one of high position or importance within a group
Sinhala figure of speech: කුණු හබ්බ
Type: [පුද්ගලික]
Literal translation: Rotten words
English equivalent: Billingsgate
Meaning: obscene or abusive language
Sinhala figure of speech: මරියකඩේ භාෂාව
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: The language of Maradana Market
English equivalent: Billingsgate
Meaning: obscene or abusive language
Sinhala figure of speech: වැල්ලේ භාෂාව
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Language of the slums
English equivalent: Billingsgate
Meaning: obscene or abusive language
Sinhala figure of speech: එක වල්ලේ පොල්
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Coconuts of the same bunch
English equivalent: Birds of a feather
Meaning: people with the same characteristics, ideas, interests, etc
Sinhala figure of speech: ළඟ තිබෙන කපුටුමහ දුර තිබෙන මොණරමහට වඛ හොඳය.
Type: [උපදේශ][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
Literal translation: The crow nearby is better than the peacock far away
English equivalent: A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
Meaning: it is better to keep something you have than to try to get something better and risk having nothing at all
Sinhala figure of speech: දුවන මුවන් දැක නොදමන් නෙළූ පලා
Type: [කියමන්]
Literal translation: Seeing running deer, do not throw away gathered greens
English equivalent: *A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
Meaning: it is better to keep something you have than to try to get something better and risk having nothing at all
Sinhala figure of speech: නුපුරදු දීගෙට වඩා දන්න කනවැන්දුම හොඳයි
Type: [ආප්තෝපදේශ]
Literal translation: The known widowhood is better than the unfamiliar marriage
English equivalent: A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
Meaning: it is better to keep something you have than to try to get something better and risk having nothing at all
Sinhala figure of speech: කණ කොකා වගේ
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][උපමා]
Literal translation: Like the blind heron
English equivalent: Bird of ill omen
Meaning: a person who brings bad news
Sinhala figure of speech: නිලං කොබෙයියා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Blue/Green Imperial Pigeon
English equivalent: Bird of passage
Meaning: a transient person or one who roams about
Sinhala figure of speech: දඹුලුත් වැඳගෙන තල ගොයිත් මරාගෙන එනවා.
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
Literal translation: Worshiping Dambulla and killing the iguana (on the way back)
English equivalent: Kill two birds with one stone
Meaning: to accomplish two things with one action
Sinhala figure of speech: හෙළුව
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Nakedness
English equivalent: Birthday suit
Meaning: a state of total nakedness, as at birth
Sinhala figure of speech: හිතේ හැටියට ටිකක්
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: A little according to the mind
English equivalent: A bit of one's mind
Meaning: Frank and severe criticism
Sinhala figure of speech: පොළවට පස් වෙනවා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Becoming soil to the earth
English equivalent: Bite the dust
Meaning: to fail completely or cease to exist
Sinhala figure of speech: පොළොවේ පස කනවා 
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Eating the earth's soil
English equivalent: Bite the dust
Meaning: to fail completely or cease to exist
Sinhala figure of speech: තුච්ඡ කර දමනවා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Making contemptible
English equivalent: Bite one's head off
Meaning: to respond harshly and rudely (to)
Sinhala figure of speech: මන්තර ශාස්ත්‍රය
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Mantra science
English equivalent: Black art
Meaning: witchcraft
Sinhala figure of speech: සුදු පිටේ කළු අකුරෙන්
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: In black letters on a white back
English equivalent: In black and white
Meaning: in print or writing
Sinhala figure of speech: කුඩු කෑ විත්තිය කියනවා
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
Literal translation: Confessing the guilt of eating powder/bran
English equivalent: *Levy blackmail
Meaning: 	to extort money by threats, as of injury to one's reputation
Sinhala figure of speech: අප්පගේ පුතා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Father's son
English equivalent: A chip of the old block
Meaning: someone who resembles their parent in character or appearance
Sinhala figure of speech: ගහේ පොල්
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Tree's coconuts
English equivalent: A chip of the old block
Meaning: someone who resembles their parent in character or appearance
Sinhala figure of speech: ලේ උණුකරනවා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Boling the blood
English equivalent: Make one's blood boil
Meaning: to cause to be angry or indignant
Sinhala figure of speech: ඇඟේ මාළු නටනවා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Fish dancing in the body
English equivalent: Make one's blood boil
Meaning: to cause to be angry or indignant
Sinhala figure of speech: ලෙයට ඇදීම සිරිතයි
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Pulling to the blood is the custom
English equivalent: Blood is thicker than water
Meaning: family duties and loyalty outweigh other ties
Sinhala figure of speech: ලෙයට ලේ ඇදෙනවා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Blood pulls to blood
English equivalent: Blood is thicker than water
Meaning: family duties and loyalty outweigh other ties
Sinhala figure of speech: ලේ උරා බොන්නා 
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Blood sucker
English equivalent: Blood-sucker
Meaning: a person or thing that preys upon another person, especially by extorting money
Sinhala figure of speech: අමු අමුවේ මිනිමැරීම
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Killing humans while raw
English equivalent: Cold-blooded murder
Meaning: a murder that is deliberate, premeditated, and carried out with a complete lack of emotion, compassion, or remorse
Sinhala figure of speech: ආරෙට ගොහින්
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Gone to the lineage/herd
English equivalent: In the blood
Meaning: as a natural or inherited characteristic or talent
Sinhala figure of speech: මුහුණ ගැවුණු දැළි 
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Soot smeared on the face
English equivalent: Blot on one's escutcheon
Meaning: a stain on one's honour
Sinhala figure of speech: ජණ භය
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: People fear
English equivalent: Blue funk
Meaning: a state of great terror or loss of nerve
Sinhala figure of speech: කනස්සල්ලෙන්
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: With worry
English equivalent: In the blues
Meaning: feelings of melancholy, sadness, or depression
Sinhala figure of speech: බැලු බැල්මට
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: At the looked look
English equivalent: At the first blush
Meaning: without previous knowledge or adequate consideration
Sinhala figure of speech: එක වළේ වැටී
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Fallen in one pit
English equivalent: In the same boat
Meaning: in the same unfavorable situation
Sinhala figure of speech: අවසර ද?
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Is there permission?
English equivalent: Make bold to
Meaning: to presume or venture
Sinhala figure of speech: අහසෙන් කඩා වැටුණ මෙන්
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][උපමා]
Literal translation: Like fallen from the sky
English equivalent: A bolt from the blue
Meaning: a sudden, unexpected, and usually unwelcome event
Sinhala figure of speech: වැහි නැති හෙනක්
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: A thunderbolt without rain
English equivalent: *A bolt from the blue
Meaning: a sudden, unexpected, and usually unwelcome event
Sinhala figure of speech: ගබේට මුල
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Root to the interior
English equivalent: Bone of contention
Meaning: the grounds or subject of a dispute
Sinhala figure of speech: ඒ මදිවට
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: To the insufficiency of that
English equivalent: To boot
Meaning: in addition
Sinhala figure of speech: අනුන්ගේ රත්තරන්
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Others' gold
English equivalent: Borrowed plumes or borrowed feathers
Meaning: A showy display that is not truly one's own
Sinhala figure of speech: පලිප්පු දමා කියනවා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Saying with "palippu" (garnish)
English equivalent: Draw the long bow
Meaning: to exaggerate in telling something
Sinhala figure of speech: අන්දුන් කුන්දුන් වෙනවා 
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Becoming confused/dazed
English equivalent: Be bowled over
Meaning:  surprised greatly
Sinhala figure of speech: එක වළේ
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: In one pit
English equivalent: In the same box
Meaning: state of being together
Sinhala figure of speech: ඉතා අලුත් 
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Very new
English equivalent: Brand new
Meaning: absolutely new
Sinhala figure of speech: අලුත් ම අලුත්
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Newest of new
English equivalent: Brand new
Meaning: absolutely new
Sinhala figure of speech: එක හුස්මට
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: In one breath
English equivalent: All in a breath
Meaning: quickly and without hesitation
Sinhala figure of speech: ගල් ගැහෙනවා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Stones hitting 
English equivalent: Take away one's breath
Meaning: to make one as if breathless with astonishment
Sinhala figure of speech: තුණ්ණිම්භූත වෙනවා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Becoming silent/stunned
English equivalent: Take away one's breath
Meaning: to make one as if breathless with astonishment
Sinhala figure of speech: කනට කොඳුරා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Whispering to the ear
English equivalent: Under one's breath
Meaning: in a quiet voice or whisper
Sinhala figure of speech: අවසාන හුස්ම දක්වා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Until the final breath
English equivalent: With one's last breath
Meaning: to do something in the very moment of dying, just before one's life ends
Sinhala figure of speech: අන්තිම සුස්ම හෙළනවා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Dropping the last breath
English equivalent: Breathe one's last
Meaning: to die or be finished or defeated
Sinhala figure of speech: ආරේ ගතිය
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Nature of the lineage
English equivalent: What is bred in the bone
Meaning:  something that is deeply ingrained, firmly established, and unlikely to change
Sinhala figure of speech: හෙන ගහන්නා වාගේ බැණ වදිනවා
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
Literal translation: Scolding like lightning striking
English equivalent: Come down like a ton of bricks
Meaning: to speak very angrily to someone because they have done something wrong or to punish them severel
Sinhala figure of speech: නොසැහෙන සේ බණිනවා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Scolding endlessly/unsuitably
English equivalent: Come down like a ton of bricks
Meaning: to speak very angrily to someone because they have done something wrong or to punish them severel
Sinhala figure of speech: කට ළඟටම
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Right up to the mouth
English equivalent: To the brim
Meaning: to the top
Sinhala figure of speech: උතුරා යන තැනට
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: To the place of overflowing
English equivalent: To the brim
Meaning: to the top
Sinhala figure of speech: සිහිසන් කරවනවා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Making conscious 
English equivalent: Bring round
Meaning: to convince (another person, usually an opponent) of an opinion or point of view
Sinhala figure of speech: බැඳලා ගැහුවත්, ගහලා බැන්දත් එකයි
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
Literal translation: Whether tied and hit, or hit and tied, it is one
English equivalent: As broad as it's long
Meaning: amounting to the same thing
Sinhala figure of speech: බුම්මාගන
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Frowning/Sulking
English equivalent: In a brown study
Meaning: in a reverie or daydream
Sinhala figure of speech: දිරච්ච අත්ත
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Rotten branch
English equivalent: Broken reed
Meaning: a weak, unreliable, or ineffectual person
Sinhala figure of speech: වචන හුවමාරුවක්
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: An exchange of words
English equivalent: A brush
Meaning: have an argument or disagreement with them
Sinhala figure of speech: අතේ පයේ බලය
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Power of hand and foot
English equivalent: Brute force
Meaning: physical force or strength, especially in contrast to other ways of achieving something, such as skill or intelligence
Sinhala figure of speech: කට ගහනවා  
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Hitting mouth
English equivalent: Butt in
Meaning: to mix into (another's business, a conversation, etc.)
Sinhala figure of speech: නුදුරු අනාගත
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Not-far future
English equivalent: By and by
Meaning: eventually
Sinhala figure of speech: ගිය දේ ගියා වේ
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
Literal translation: Let gone things be gone
English equivalent: Let bygones be bygones
Meaning: to agree to forget past quarrels
Sinhala figure of speech: කට කථාවක් වෙනවා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Becoming a mouth story
English equivalent: Become a by-word
Meaning: a person, place, or thing becomes a proverbial
Sinhala figure of speech: අශ්වයා තුට්ටු දෙකට ගන්නත් ඕනෑ, තාප්පෙට උඩින් පනින්ටත් ඕනැ
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
Literal translation: Want to buy the horse for two cents AND want it to jump over the wall
English equivalent: Eat one's cake and have it too
Meaning: to enjoy both of two desirable but incompatible alternatives
Sinhala figure of speech: තැග්ගක් දෙන්ට වටිනවා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Worth giving a gift
English equivalent: Take the cake
Meaning: to surpass all others, especially in stupidity, folly, etc
Sinhala figure of speech: පද හදනවා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Making verses/lines
English equivalent: Call names
Meaning: to speak of or to in an abusive manner
Sinhala figure of speech: අහළකින්වත් තියන්ට බැරි
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Can't even place near
English equivalent: Not fit to hold a candle to
Meaning: be nearly as good as
Sinhala figure of speech: ලොකු නම්බුවක්
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: A big honor
English equivalent:  A feather in one's cap
Meaning: a praiseworthy accomplishment
Sinhala figure of speech: පොල් කටුව අතින් ගෙන
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Taking the coconut shell in hand
English equivalent: Cap in hand
Meaning: humbly, as when asking a favour
Sinhala figure of speech: ජරමරයකට අසුවී 
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Caught in a mess/trouble
English equivalent: In the cart
Meaning: in trouble or difficulty
Sinhala figure of speech: ලෝක්කේ කාපු
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: World-eaten
English equivalent: Case hardened
Meaning: made callous or tough by experience
Sinhala figure of speech: ගොනා පිට හකුරු පටවනවා
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
Literal translation: Loading jaggery on a bull
English equivalent: Cast pearls before swine
Meaning: to present something of great interest or value to someone incapable of appreciating it
Sinhala figure of speech: බීරි අලියාට වේණා ගහනවා
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
Literal translation: Playing the Veena for a deaf elephant
English equivalent: Cast pearls before swine
Meaning: to present something of great interest or value to someone incapable of appreciating it
Sinhala figure of speech: ඌරන් කවදා ද කහ කැවේ?
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
Literal translation: When did pigs eat turmeric?
English equivalent: Cast pearls before swine
Meaning: to present something of great interest or value to someone incapable of appreciating it
Sinhala figure of speech: නම කැලැල් කරනවා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Scarring the name
English equivalent: Cast a slur on
Meaning: To discredit
Sinhala figure of speech: හූනියම කරනවා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Doing a Huniyam (black magic)
English equivalent: Cast a spell over
Meaning: to strongly attract, charm, or fascinate them, making them completely captivated or enchanted
Sinhala figure of speech: මුහුණටම කියනවා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Saying right to the face
English equivalent: Cast in one's teeth
Meaning: to reproach someone for (an action)
Sinhala figure of speech: කළුන් දෑත් බිසෝ වුණා ලු
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][වාර්තා]
Literal translation: It is said the dark woman became the queen
English equivalent: A cat may look at a king
Meaning: A purported inferior has certain rights or prerogatives, even in the presence of a purported superior
Sinhala figure of speech: බැලුවට ඇස් පොට්ට වෙන වැයි?
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
Literal translation: Will eyes go blind for looking?
English equivalent: A cat may look at a king:
Meaning: A purported inferior has certain rights or prerogatives, even in the presence of a purported superior
Sinhala figure of speech: නයා පොලඟා වගේ හැසිරීම
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
Literal translation: Behaving like the cobra and viper
English equivalent: Cat-and-dog life
Meaning:  life or a relationship characterized by constant quarreling, arguments, and animosity
Sinhala figure of speech: පණ එපා කියා සටන් කරනවා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Fighting saying "I don't want life"
English equivalent: Fight like Kilkenny cats
Meaning: to fight until both parties are destroyed
Sinhala figure of speech: මොර සූරන වැසි වහිනවා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Raining shark-scraping rain
English equivalent: Raining cats and dogs
Meaning: it is raining very heavily
Sinhala figure of speech: නා කපන වැසි වහිනවා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Raining nail-cutting rain
English equivalent: Raining cats and dogs
Meaning: it is raining very heavily
Sinhala figure of speech: අත කොළුවක් කර ගන්නවා.
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Making a hand-tool/boy
English equivalent: To make a cat's paw of
Meaning: a person used to serve the purposes of another
Sinhala figure of speech: හම්බවෙයි
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Will meet / Will get
English equivalent: Catch it
Meaning: to be scolded or reprimanded
Sinhala figure of speech: තැති ගැසෙනවා 
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Getting shocked
English equivalent: Catch one's breath
Meaning: to rest until breathing is normal, especially after exertion
Sinhala figure of speech: ගල් ගැසෙනවා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Stones hitting 
English equivalent: Catch one's breath
Meaning: to rest until breathing is normal, especially after exertion
Sinhala figure of speech: කරට කර වෙනවා 
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Shoulder to shoulder
English equivalent: Catch up
Meaning: reach the same standard, stage, or level that they have reached
Sinhala figure of speech: ගමයට මැජික්
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Magic to the villager
English equivalent: Caviare to the general
Meaning: a thing appealing only to a highly cultivated taste
Sinhala figure of speech: ඌරන්ට කහ
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Turmeric for pigs
English equivalent: Caviare to the general
Meaning: a thing appealing only to a highly cultivated taste
Sinhala figure of speech: ඌරන්ට අච්චාරු
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Pickle for pigs
English equivalent: Caviare to the general
Meaning: a thing appealing only to a highly cultivated taste
Sinhala figure of speech: මුලසුන ගන්නවා
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Taking the head-seat
English equivalent: Take the chair
Meaning: to preside as chairman
Sinhala figure of speech: කළුයි සුදුයි වගේ
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][උපමා]
Literal translation: Like black and white
English equivalent: As different as chalk from cheese
Meaning: they are completely different from each other
Sinhala figure of speech: අහම්බෙන්
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: By accident
English equivalent: By chance
Meaning: not planned by anyone
Sinhala figure of speech: නැති වූ හොඳ නම නැවත ලබා ගන්නවා.
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Regaining the lost good name
English equivalent: Redeem one's character
Meaning: Fixes one's mistakes
Sinhala figure of speech: කුණු කොල්ලෙට
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: For dirt plunder
English equivalent: Dirt cheap
Meaning:  emphasizing that it is very cheap indeed
Sinhala figure of speech: යා බදව
Type: [වාග්ව්‍යවහාර]
Literal translation: Adjoining
English equivalent: Cheek by jowl
Meaning:  close together
Sinhala figure of speech: මූදේ ඉන්න මාළුවන්ට මිරිස් අඹරනවා.
Type: [විශ්වාස][ප්‍රපංච][ප්‍රකාශන]
Literal translation: Grinding chili for fish in the sea
English equivalent: Count one's chickens before they are hatched 
Meaning: to be overoptimistic in acting on expectations which are not yet fulfilled